The Gem:
Half a Century
of Skating

Around 1988, The Gem was passed down, being purchased by Barb Austin and Dean Becker, who both proceeded to run the business until their passings in 2021 and 2022. According to Matt Becker, the current owner of the newly transitioned The Gem and son of the couple, it had been “providing a fun, safe entertainment center for the Menasha community”.

Those who mourned the closing of the rink might be pleased to find that throughout their time as owners, Austin and Becker also expanded the business by purchasing another location in 1994. As of its opening in 1997, the second rink is known as Skaters Edge and is still run today by Matt Becker’s siblings – Susan Roan and Nicholas Becker.

In 2015, he began to purchase estates from other companies after they ran sales, to have the room to be able to purchase more items. According to Becker, clearing estates can be a very massive process, but “over time you learn what to keep and what to discard by learning and following the trends of your customers' purchases”. 

In May 2018, six years after he opened his original booth, Becker left his full-time job to commit to pursuing his shop full-time. This ended up being an unlucky choice, as the Brin building caught fire only the next month. He “lost 95% of all [his] inventory due to water damage from putting out the fire,” forcing him to practically start all over again. 

He didn't lose hope with the inventory, though. After the fire he rented part of Knofke Lumber in Menasha, buying out estates again, and eventually having two buildings at that location. Becker’s business thrived even after the situation, as he started to run on-site estate sales as well, and expanded to six different antique shops in Fox Valley. 

Eventually after his parents’ passing in 2022, he spoke with his siblings about The Gem. They decided that closing it was the right decision. Becker then bought The Gem from the estate, moving the antique business in. Although his previous business experience had already given him a sense of the costs, the new location’s “taxes, utilities, other monthly bills, and cost of upkeep took some getting used to,” according to Becker. However, it was still worth it, as he then “slowly transformed it into what it is today while trying to maintain as much history as possible.”